Humans of Orchan | Darius, But Not the Persian King

Humans of Orchan | Darius Khaw

Look, I'm not good at introductions but I'll do my best. Let's get started.

I'm Darius, a 23-year-old Malaysian, undertaking my Bachelor's degree in Public Relations at KDU University College. I am an AVID gamer; I love planting my butt in front of the computer and speeding my day in virtual worlds. But BOY OH BOY, do I love fish and nature as well. I could stare at them for hours on end. Gaming, looking at fish and nature is my ideal version of a relaxing time. Actually, I’m planning on starting an aquarium and terrarium someday.

 

Despite being an avid gamer, I'm not a typical one. I LOVE sports; no, I don't mean football, basketball or badminton. I mean proper adrenaline rushing sports. Paintball, rock-climbing, bungee jumping, jet skiing, paragliding; you name it, I'm there. If it's dangerous and gets my blood pumping, I'm up for it. What's life without a little excitement and thrill?

 

Before we get into my internship at Orchan, just one more TINY tid-bit more about myself. I  don't shy away from from a challenge or from work; I find it quite rewarding in a way. To gain valuable experience and be an actual, USEFUL, contributing member to society, is one of the reasons I enjoy work more than others from my generation. I do credit this to one of my strengths though, my perseverance is what gets me through the lot of it. I'm not one to give up easily, I EXTREMELY dislike throwing in the towel and walking away when up against a brick wall. For me, it's either I keep pushing till I get through it, or die trying (I think stubbornness is a potential weakness here though).

 

Nevertheless, I do have my flaws, we all have our flaws; but I'm not afraid to admit them. Time management, following rules, spelling, laziness, self-doubt, anger management, these are just some of the things I personally struggle with; not to mention stuttering like Porky Pig when asked to speak in front of others. But hey, I'm working on these, okay!

 

Anyway, enough of an intro to me, let's talk internship;  Orchan Consulting Asia. I'd be lying if I said that my interview here went smoothly without a single hiccup. It was an absolute trainwreck in its first half. Man, did I botch it up. Although I still somehow got hired, the interview was a real roller-coaster of emotions. Never have I been roasted / tested for half an hour or more, only to be met with kindness. I thought I was dreaming for a second, I won't lie.

 

Nevertheless, if you decide to take a shot on the Orchan express, I have two (2) tips for you as of now and I cannot stress them enough:

 

Tip 1 - FOLLOW THE GUIDELINES.

Tip 2 - USE THE CC FUNCTION IN EMAILS.

 

If you decide to not follow either of these tips, bless your soul. Don’t get me wrong, in short time I’ve been working with Craig and Farrell, absolutely amazing. You can learn SO much from them it's insane.

 

I honestly did not expect to be so hands on and active during my first week at all. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing though, I love it. Hands on work, whether you like it or not, is a great rewarding experience. Going through draft after draft, only to finally produce an acceptable product is a great self-accomplishment on its own. Feeling nervous when you see Craig or Farrell typing in the chat box or when one of their emails pop up, never seems to go away.

 

If you have a time-management problem like I do, I offer one solution. My suggestion for my crappy time-management is give them a time frame in which you think is enough to complete and submit your work (of course it has to be within their time-frame as well). Granted, if you fail to do so, it backfires but hey, that’s how it motivates you. The fear that comes with completing it on time, I guarantee it helps. I mean, it worked for me so far. So far….

 

Anyway, in just the 5 days I’ve been working here, I’ve already been part of their press release and emceed one of Craig’s research webinars. He has an eye for perfection so, if it's not up to standard, keep your head high and try again. Also, don’t be shy or scared to ask questions if something isn’t clear. Me personally, if it's just a simple question, I hop in the chat box, if I know I need more clarification, a zoom call it is.

 

I do hope to gain quite a bit throughout my internship at Orchan. Obviously getting better at my communication skills … though what I’m REALLY looking forward to learning is how a PR practitioner communicates with the public; I want to learn how a message is constructed to get people hooked. To me, that’s interesting; seeing a PR person make something so small seem so interesting, and taking a boring topic and turning it into something embraceable is just mind boggling. I would definitely LOVE to learn about crisis management too. Learning how a brand creates a crisis management plan, going through all the small bits and pieces, THAT, would be a fantastic experience for me.

 

I still can’t say much because I’m just on my early stage of my internship still, and I’m very sure I haven’t even scratched the tip of the iceberg yet. Fingers crossed for the next few months.